KOLKATA: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has started to crack down on a host of city malls, hotels and nursing homes that have allegedly declined payment of property tax calculated on rental basis. For some, general revaluation (GR) records have gone missing and in other cases, the rates are grossly undervalued when compared to the surrounding buildings.

The KMC assessment department has formed several area-wise crack teams to serve notices on major property tax defaulters and bring prominent commercial properties under re-assessment.

After attaching a prime property located at Government Place (East) last month, the department has set its sights on a multi-storied building on Rashbehari Avenue. It houses several prominent business houses as tenants. Armed with the high court order, KMC has already served a notice to the owner, asking him to clear the outstanding tax. According to a KMC official, the owner owes several crores as property tax.

Similarly, a team raided a prominent shopping mall at Bhowanipore last week for re-assessment of the space leased out or sold to different business houses. Civic inspectors say a number of business houses that are operating from the mall had been undervalued or had no assessment records. "We hope to raise our revenue by more than a crore annually," said a KMC assessment department official.

Two malls at Gariahat are also under KMC scanner. KMC officials found that they were paying tax much below the assessed rate. "This property is grossly undervalued. We will stock of the measurement and check book of records for fixing the actual valuation," said a KMC assessment department official.

Civic officials are working on a formula for re-assessing property tax rate for big business houses. "We have been pleading with them to cooperate with us in re-assessing the space. We are facing a challenge as the business houses fudge book of records or some times we face political pressure as an influential business lobby is at work," said a KMC assessment department official.

Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, however, made it clear that KMC won't buckle under pressure. "We have already attached one prime property. Now we are set to teach a lesson to others who will not pay legitimate property tax," Chatterjee said.